The Final Light
by ZanderCross00
Summary: The Keyblade War is over, the X-Blade forged, Kingdom Hearts unlocked, and the light vanquished. But no one could have predicted the horror of what would happen next, not even Xehanort himself. The worlds collapsed, being swallowed up in the darkness that poured forth, and now only one remains, and it too is on the verge of collapse with only one Keyblade wielder left to stop it.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One**_- **Broken World, New Reality**

_**A shattered fragment of dream memories that came to him every night played out before him once again...**_

_**Blue skies... golden sands... clear ocean... and the warmth of the sun above were the sensations that flooded through him as he stood there, taking it all in. He put up a hand to shield his eyes from the light and saw something out in the distance. He couldn't tell what it was, and squinted to get a better look, but the thing wasn't any clearer. **_

_**A flash of bright sunlight blinded him for a moment and a girl was standing in front of him, although for the life of him he couldn't seem to focus on her features.**_

**Take this path... and you shall be put through the worst trials... **_**The girl said, calmly and slowly, her voice echoing throughout his dream world. He looked around, unsure of what she meant.**_

**In due time... you shall find the path... and you shall choose... **_**she said simply, and the sun's glow became bright and blinding, forcing him to turn away...**_

"Az Fulbright, wake up!" A voice called from what sounded like a distance to his half conscious mind.

"Wha...?" He groaned, eyes opening partially as he lifted his head up from his desk. His dark blue eyes gazed sleepily at the teacher standing above him, a stern look on her face. It was Ms. Skye, his English teacher and his favorite teacher by far.

"Please don't sleep in my class, thank you." She said in a demanding yet somewhat relaxed manner. Even though she was the youngest teacher in the school she was also known for being the least lenient, even with Az, who was undoubtedly her favorite student because he rarely caused trouble.

"Sorry..." He muttered, pushing his black bangs from his face and giving a small yawn, which made the rest of the class laugh a little under their breath. Ms. Skye looked at Az for a second longer before turning and going back to the front of the room, her dignified walk feeling so out of place for the kind of place she was in. She got the class's attention again and began to teach once more, going on about something that Az already knew most of since he had been a year ahead before things had gotten really bad.

In spite of himself he turned and looked out the window, thinking about the events of the past that he had only heard about. What that meant was the sudden collapse of, well, everything. Most older people didn't remember living in this bleak and dark city their entire lives, and the ones that do were born here after the first generation were suddenly brought here for some reason or other. The city itself was filled with black skyscrapers and neon lights, which served as a light source since no sun ever rose here. This led to a perpetual night... although even that couldn't block out what was closing in on the city even now.

Walls of darkness had been there for as long as Az could remember. Walls that stretched endlessly into the sky and were the literal end of the world. It was hard to break through them, but once you were through there was no coming back. A person that fell outside the wall fell down and down and down, into a neverending abyss. But the worst part about them was that they constantly were pushing inward, and anything that passed through them simply fell out of existence entirely.

Az could see them off in the distance even now, and despite having a feeling he wouldn't live to see the day that they finally swallowed the city whole it still made his heart sink whenever he thought about. It was an unusual feeling for him, but it happened nonetheless, as it did to even the happiest of people. He wasn't happy persay, just didn't find the purpose in being so sad all the time, even if he was apathetic toward most things.

_So much darkness-_ Az's thoughts were interrupted by the final bell ringing and everyone in the room cheered for the start of the weekend as they clustered together in their little groups of friends. Az sat alone, as he usually did, and began getting his things together to leave for the day.

"Az, may I have a word with you before you leave?" Ms. Skye asked him, making Az look up from what he was doing.

"Uh... sure." He replied, not really sure what she would want to say to him rather than to scold him for falling asleep. Az decided to pack up a bit slower now, wanting everyone to be out of the room so that they wouldn't say anything about him getting a scolding from Ms. Skye. They already were bad enough to him, so he wanted to avoid any kind of kindle to add to their fire.

"Az... I've noticed that you've been falling asleep more and more in my class lately." Ms. Skye started, actually not in her strict teacher persona for once. "Is something wrong at home? Or maybe with some of the kids at school?" Az thought about this for a moment. She was being much more tender with her tone than normal, and he had always felt he could trust her should he need to get something off of his chest.

"It's not really anything like that..." He replied, voice a little lower than normal. "It's just that... well, I kind of already know the material and everything, so... it's not really engaging." She appraised him for a couple of quite, drawn out seconds in which he thought she would call him on his bluff, although after what felt like an eternity she sighed heavily.

"Alright. Just try to stay awake, please? I don't want to have to wake you up in the middle of class like that, understand?" She said, resuming her strict teacher persona in full.

"Yes ma'am." Az said, his voice going monotone as they two of them exchanged a small smile while he walked of the room. Despite being his age, Az got along well with people several years older than he was, and Ms. Skye was someone like him. She had said that she was only three years older than his modest 17, and so he actually had some genuine respect for her since she was able to become a teacher so fast.

"Hey teacher's pet." An all too familiar voice said, reminding him why his respect for Ms. Skye was something that he tried, and failed, to hide.

"What do you want, Drake?" Az asked, looking over to see the rather imposing boy standing there. He was dressed in all black, from his dress shirt to his pants to his shoes and even the necklace he wore. Az seemed to be the opposite, wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans, white sneakers, and a checker patterned hoodie that he had some favoritism toward.

"Just wanted to see if you two really were doing something... inappropriate for a student-teacher relationship. Trying to do my job as a good student and all." Drake said, sounding self important even though Az thought he was just spitting out complete bullshit.

"Well then, get your fill creep?" Az retorted. Drake rolled his dark, nearly black eyes at the comment and turned to walk away.

"Just remember that I'm keeping an eye on you." He said before leaving. Az stood there for a moment longer before sighing and turning toward the opposite direction and walking that way. He never understood why Drake was so... antagonistic toward him. He guessed it was because he was a year older and had asked Ms. Skye on a date, however she had refused him almost instantly, then she chose Az to be her favorite student. They had never liked each other, but that had set them dead against each other for most of the year.

_Just another thing to deal with..._ He thought, holding back a groan. But he swallowed that annoyance with his life just as quickly as it came, since he knew that work in an hour would only bring him more headaches.

* * *

Glass shattered as the girl dived through the window, arms out in front of her to stop herself from taking any shards of glass to the face. Her black cutoff sleeves helped to stop the majority of the shards, but they were ripped up in some places.

Her head turned back and she pushed her long bright pink hair from her face to see shadows moving toward the window she had leapt through, the small splotches from before now fusing together into one bigger collective. Her light aqua eyes widened in surprise and slight fear as she started running again, her tattered black shirt which was only on one shoulder, the ripped up left thigh high sock, and the battered shoes evidence she had been doing this for awhile now.

Her only thoughts were getting away as her feet pounding against the empty street, no one being foolish enough to be out in the open at night anymore.

* * *

Az walked alone as he went home that night after work, looking tired and depressed. It had been a long day, and seeing so many unhappy faces had made him start to feel a bit down too. He still trudged on, keeping his head down and hood up as he walked so as to be less noticeable to any lurkers waiting in the shadows of an alleyway for some helpless victim to walk on by.

From his side he could hear a distant scream, and one that made his eyes turn that way to look. A certain ache inside of him told him to go and help, but another kind of force kept his legs moving forward. He usually thought of it as survival instinct, as he already knew that there was literally nothing he could do.

He heard the scream again and started walking a bit faster, because this time it was closer than before. A couple seconds later another scream, and closer still. Az's heartbeat started to accelerate, and his eyes shifted from side to side restlessly. He caught sight of the hands the grabbed him just a second too late, and soon his arm was in a vice grip that hurt. His back was slammed against a stone wall and he felt cold steel pressed against his throat, bringing the threat of prolonged death with its icy chill.

"Move and I'll slash that pretty neck of yours then gut you like a fish, got it?" Said a gruff male voice. The breath of the man was vile and Az gagged slightly.

""I'm a guy, so just let me go." He said, knowing that his type liked young girls over young men.

"That'll do." The man said, sneering as Az started to panic. The man was tall and strong, holding him up against the wall with ease and standing a few inches taller than Az's own 6'1". His face was scarred and he had a look of hunger in his eyes, one that made Az gag again.

"Just be a good boy, and it'll be over real quick." The man said, flipping Az around so that his front was pressed into the wall, the knife hovering near the small of his back. He tried to think of a way he could get out of this, but there was none. No opening he could use, no kind of trick to pull. All he could do was close his eyes and wait for the end...

"Gah!" The man shouted as Az heard the knife clatter to the ground. He almost didn't turn around until he heard the soft voice of a girl behind him and felt a calming touch on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked. Instead of answering he turned around quickly to see a girl standing there that was only a couple of inches shorter than him, wearing a tattered black shirt that hung onto her right shoulder, some black cutoff sleeves that appeared a bit shredded, a longer, slightly dirty pink skirt, black thigh high socks with the left one being so torn up that it was barely there anymore, and some battered looking black sneakers.

But when he looked up and met her aqua eyes and saw her stunningly bright pink hair he almost froze. Even though Az had never met her before, she seemed so familiar to him that it struck him like a ton of bricks.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked again, shaking his shoulder a bit. The shaking caused him to snap out of the trance he had been in and he blinked a few times just to make sure he was all the way there.

"Y-yeah..." He said, clearing his throat. "What happened to him...?"

"I hit him." She said, shrugging a bit as she let go of Az's shoulder.

"Oh. Well thank you... I was in a really bad position right there." He replied, feeling a bit sheepish that all this had happened. She was about to reply when she froze, eyes widening at something behind him. He turned and felt horror inside of himself as well as his eyes came upon what she had saw.

The entrance to the alleyway was blocked by a mass of shadows that had glowing yellow eyes in it which watched the two of them like hawks watching prey. The girl's next move was unexpected, and so Az stumbled when she grabbed his arm and started pulling him forward with surprising strength. He soon got his balance back and started running with her, although she seemed to move faster even with his longer stride.

_What the hell is going on?!_ Az screamed in his thoughts as he ran, feeling his heart beating loudly from fear and running in his ears. They exploded from the alleyway at the opposite end and crossed the empty street. Az looked around but there was no one in sight.

They were all alone to face the nightmare behind them.

"Keep running!" She called back to him. Az looked at her with wide, fearful eyes, but kept doing as she asked of him. He turned his head slightly to look behind them, but in place of the neon lights that should've been shining down he saw only pitch black darkness and hungry yellow, glowing eyes chasing after the two of them as they entered another alleyway.

_What are those things?!_ He screamed in his head, too busy with breathing to ask the girl herself. He turned his attention forward again to look at her. Her clothing was strange, that he knew. Her black shirt really only stayed up on her right shoulder, and her left sock was short compared to the right one, which went pretty much all the way up her leg to her pink skirt. But the most striking things about her were her bright pink hair and aqua coloured eyes, which were just as wide with panic as his were.

She pulled him into a turn and he nearly stumbled as he hadn't been paying much attention to where they were going, just making sure his feet kept moving to keep up with her. Now he focused, and felt his heart sink.

"We're going toward a dead end!" He shouted, pointing up ahead. It was true that there was a way out, but it was just an empty lot that was bordered by one of the towering walls of darkness that rose out of the ground near the edges of the city and got closer everyday. No way out but the alleyway... and that meant whatever the monsters behind them were would catch up in no time.

"Just... trust me!" The pink haired girl shouted as the two burst into the lot, running straight toward the back of it until they finally stopped near the wall of purplish black rising up endlessly into the sky.

"Now... what...?" He asked, panting heavily as he looked back to see the monsters slowly inching their way into the lot. They wouldn't have a lot of time if this kept up-

"Look out!" He shouted, stepping in front of the girl with his arms thrown out to either side of him. He felt a hot spike of pain go through his chest before everything started going numb and his vision blurred until it was nothing but blackness. His thoughts were quickly sinking into that same blackness, and just as he thought he was about to be lost to it forever... he heard the girl's voice whispering directly into what he knew what his dying mind.

Live... become strong... and find purpose... Her voice said, bringing a rush of white and a kind of energy that he had never felt before.

_Falling down... forever and ever... flashes of light... seas of darkness..._

* * *

Az's eyes opened as he gasped for air, hand going to clutch at his chest where he had felt the pain in his chest. He found it unmarked, however, and looked down to see not a scratch on him. His eyes lingered there, as he had caught sight of the place he had awoken to.

A large circular platform that looked to be made of some kind of colourful glass. Az stood slowly, still reeling a bit from his earlier feeling of near-death, to get a better look at the glass. It was mostly blue in colour with some blacks in the borders of some of the patterns. There were circles on it as well, many of which bordered the platform and held heart outlines topped with crowns.

Dominating the top half of the platform was something that drew his eyes however. It was a large solid circle with seven circles, six surrounding one in their center, that were completely blank. He thought to go see where he might be, and as he stepped forward he noticed that the floor beneath him had the same checker pattern as his hoodie, down to the last detail.

"What is this place...?" He asked himself, looking at his surroundings to find only the platform surrounded by darkness.

_You have come... at long last..._ A voice said, echoing through the space that Az was in. He looked around, head snapping from one direction to the next, but not finding anyone that could have spoken.

_To find... that which... you lack..._ The voice continued.

"What I... lack...?" He asked, not expecting to get a response. To his surprise there was a bright light that shined down in the center of the empty circles, which caused a pedestal to appear there. The pedestal held a single dual edged sword, which had a blade about as long as Az's arm and a handle about as long as a ruler.

_Take this... it will show you the way..._ The voice instructed. The light beckoned Az over, as he had never seen such a bright light before accept in his dreams. His steps were slow and echoed just as much as the voice did with a semi-metallic clank, as if foreboding something to come. He stepped into the light and with only a single moment's hesitation drew the sword from the pedestal. It came out with ease and felt well as balanced in his hand.

_You have taken the first step... but remember... this is only the beginning..._ The voice said, as if in warning. The light above Az faded and he was left half blind for a moment before he blinked a few times and restored his vision. His sight returned, Az noticed a soft glow from the corner of his eye and turned to see a door that was being shined on by the same ethereal light.

"'The first step,' huh?" He asked, his voice containing some of his curiosity. "Well then... let's just see what happens when I take another." As he began walking over to the door his grip on the hilt of the sword grew tighter. He was afraid, somewhere deep down inside of his heart, but he knew that he had to keep going. Az had a dark feeling as he reached the door and grasped the handle that once he stepped through, everything was going to change.

After taking a deep breath and reassuring himself silently, Az turned the handle and recoiled slightly as a bright light burst from the door when it opened. He shielded his eyes as he walked through, the light surrounding him entirely for a moment before it faded.

_There is always Light..._ The voice said, the light fading and Az's vision almost instantly returning. He looked down, expecting the same platform, but was completely shocked to see something utterly different. It was still the same blue as before, although this time the borderline circles contained only crowns, and the circles in the top held portraits of people within them, all tinted blue.

But the centerpiece of all this was the boy that appeared to be sleeping in the full body recreation of him. His clothes were mostly black, with some yellows, reds, and blues thrown in there as well. In his hand he was holding a key shaped thing that Az somehow knew was a sword. The handguard wrapped around the handle in one large, yellow square that had indents on the top and round protrusions on the bottom, and on the bottom as well as a chain that attached to a mouse head shaped token. The blade wasn't actually a blade, just a metal rod with teeth at the end that had a crown shape taken out of it.

"Why do I feel like I've seen this guy before...?" Az wondered aloud, still staring at the boy. His eyes flitted toward what on the previous platform had been the checker patterned area to see a lot of what he thought might represent water and a sky in which the sun was rising. It even included a tree with some kind of hanging star off of it to the side.

_But Darkness shall follow..._ The voice said, giving Az a little scare. He hadn't been expecting it and it had surprised him enough to get a jolt of fear out of him.

"Would you-" He started to say, but stopped as his voice caught in his throat. Shadows from the inky blackness had come onto the platform and started to move toward him, the same yellow glowing eyes present in the little pools that he remembered chasing him.

"G-get away!" Az said, fear making him back away. He felt the heel of his right foot go off the edge a little bit and realized that if they could come onto this platform, he could fall off.

_Just like back home when you go outside the walls..._ Az thought as his stomach dropped. Something suddenly leaped from the pool of darkness closest to him, a grotesque looking thing with antenna, a round head and semi-round body, arms and legs, and those same glowing eyes. The body of it was black and harder to see with the darkness that was around it, but Az's fear kicked his reactions into overdrive and his arm swung without him needing to give the command.

To his amazement, the slash when straight towards and through the creature's neck, taking its head off in a single clean blow. The two pieces of it dissipated into nothing as they hit the floor next to him. Az looked toward the blade in wonder, but quickly realized that it wasn't over as more pools of darkness advanced toward him.

"Alright... come on then." He said, gripping the handle of the sword with both hands and taking a deep breath. He was afraid, but his will and want to live was greater than that fear. Another of the creatures leaped at him and Az jumped to the side, spinning and blindly slashing at it. He missed and the creature landed, sinking back into a pool of darkness to wait for another chance to strike.

"Dammit..." Az muttered, looking around. He let out the breath he had taken as another leaped out toward him, clawed hands outstretched toward him. He dropped to his knees, thinking that it was a better way to dodge, and stabbed up as it flew overhead. This one he split in half, and it too dissipated as it hit the floor.

There was only two more pools left, and as Az stood he gripped the handle of his weapon tightly. One of the two leaped at him, and he saw the second one writhing as its occupant prepared to do the same to launch a dual offensive. But Az saw his attack pattern and what he had to do, his mind drawing up this information from somewhere deep inside of him that he had never realized was there. He let go of the handle with his left hand and swung to the left, slashing through the first creature and destroying it. As he saw the second one leap out he turned his wrist and slashed to the right, hitting it and bringing an end to the creatures as is disappeared.

_Step toward the light..._ The voice said, making Az relax a little as he felt like the danger had passed. He found himself shaking a little out of excitement, not being used to fighting like that. But something else also crossed Az's mind as he stood there, watching his hands as they slowly stopped shaking.

_How did I know what to do?_ He thought, eyes drifting to the sword. The movements in that one moment had felt natural, like he had done it hundreds of thousands of times before. Muscle memory was what it was called, if he remembered correctly.

He looked up, determination in his eyes. He was getting tired of the games now, he wanted straight answers. Just as he was about to start shouting at the voice to tell him just what was really going on, he noticed a light shining down that called to him like the one above the sword had. He started walking toward it, gazing up as he did so.

_But be warned... as you move closer to light... the greater your shadow becomes..._ The voice said, and Az had an urge to turn around. He did so and saw that his shadow was stretched greatly, as the light was shining down on an angle rather than going straight down.

It started to grow larger and larger, eventually rising out of the ground. Two glowing yellow eyes appeared on its head as it grew. Red markings spread on its chest and yellow markings on its arms and sides. Tendrils that resembled hair of some kind came out of its head and some even wrapped around where its mouth would have been if it had one. In its stomach was a hole in the shape of a heart that Az thought he could jump through if he really tried. It finally stopped growing once it towered over Az himself, who was standing there in shock.

_But do not give in..._ The voice said as Az backed away.

_Do not let the fear win..._ It continued as Az felt his entire body shaking, but this time it was from sheer terror rather excitement.

_You have a light greater than any other..._ Az stopped back up as he felt his foot actually slip off of the platform and he nearly fell off, catching himself as he used the weight of his sword to balance out. he prepared to defend himself against the massive creature, but didn't hold much hope that he could even injure it.

It brought its fist down where he was standing and he jumped forward and to the right, narrowly avoiding getting hit by its attack. He kept moving as best he could as another fist came at him from the side this time. He jumped again, this time getting his foot hit and spinning around a bit before coming to a stop near the creature's feet.

"Ugh..." He moaned, his vision still spinning as he tried to lift his head. He saw the flash of black moving toward him and put up his sword to maybe soften the blow a bit, squeezing his eyes shut so he wouldn't see it coming. After a few seconds the creature let out a roar and he opened his eyes to see that the blade had actually cut the creature's hand and it had recoiled from the injury.

A new fire lit itself in Az and he got to his feet, taking a few deep breaths to steady himself. He was still afraid, but he had hope now. Because if he could hurt it, he could find a way to beat it.

Az slashed at the thinner, unprotected legs first and cut them, weakening the creature as it howled in pain and fell to one knee. It punched at Az, but he was quick and dodge out of the way, stabbing at the hand as he turned. The blade dug itself into the creature's wrist, bringing out another howl from it. The sword was stuck fast into its massive arm, however, and the creature seemed to realize this as it pulled its arm up with Az still holding onto the sword's handle.

"Oh no..." He muttered as he felt a sharp jerk upwards. The sword came loose as the creature swung its arm upward at full force, punching at Az with its other hand as he started to come back down. He just swung the sword blindly, trying to stop the punch so it wouldn't hit. The blade and the fist collided in a flash, causing the creature to stumble back as Az got tossed a bit in the air.

Az landed hard on his back, the wind being knocked out of him all at once. He coughed hard, slightly curling into a ball as he laid there. The creature was nowhere in sight, and that caused Az some relief as he finally got some air back into his lungs. He started to relax and pant softly, resting his head against the floor and closing his eyes.

"Glad that's over..." He said, opening his eyes after a couple moments of blissful silence and peace. He began to stand up, legs trembling as he barely had any energy left after the fight. But just as he was about to get up completely the floor underneath him began to shake violently, and he felt his center of gravity start to tip as he fell backwards. He saw the sword skidding down beside him and grabbed it, stabbing the blade into the platform and holding on for dear life as the entire platform hung sideways.

"Enough already!" Az shouted, sounding desperate. He looked down to see the creature, legs merged with the darkness around it and its markings glowing just as much as its eyes were. It raised its hands and he watched as darkness began to be pulled into the space between its palms. It was even beginning to draw him into it as well, and with a small jerk he felt his sword come a bit loose from the platform.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" He screamed, looking up to the sword. His eyes were as wide as saucers and only got wider as the sword completely came out of the platform and he let go of it out of shock. He felt himself tumbling down and could see the sword above him, just out of reach.

"Please..." He whispered, reaching for the handle of the sword as he stretched out his arm as far as possible.

_It is the light that shall lead you..._ Az kept reaching, his hand getting closer to the handle.

_To the place where your truth lies..._ His desperation was reaching an all time high, and with a final scream he took hold of the sword's handle.

_Kingdom Hearts..._ As he took hold of it, the sword burst with a flash of pure, white light. Az squinted to try to see past it, but couldn't as he was forced to hold his arm in front of his face. As the light cleared, he saw the same blade that the boy on the platform's image had been holding in his hand now. It felt right in his grip, and a new kind of confidence poured through him. He finally understood as he felt the light inside of him burst into life, shining with an intensity that he had never felt before.

"I will not fall into the darkness." He said, eyes glowing white for a brief moment before he flipped around, aiming his blade as he changed his fall into a dive. He took the handle in both hands, gritting his teeth as he dove down into the ball of darkness the creature held. As Az neared it trusted it upwards at him, but he was ready and stabbed down with his sword, his entire body having become like an arrow of light.

He cut through the darkness seamlessly, going right through the ball and down toward the creature's head. With a final battle cry Az stabbed into its head, causing a bright flash of light that blotted out everything.

_**The sound of waves made Az's eyes open to the bright sun above. He felt tired and weak, but at the same time a new kind of energy burned inside of him, ready to be used. **_

_**Slowly he sat up, putting his hand in front of his eyes to stop the sun from blinding him. After blinking a few times, his vision cleared and he saw people standing there. **_

_**A girl with red hair was a little ways off to his left, standing so that she was facing him with a worried look on her face. **_

_**A boy on his right with silvery hair that looked serious but kind, and had hints of worry in his eyes as well. **_

_**And a boy standing at the water's edge a ways away, spiky dark brown hair blowing in the breeze as he turned to face Az with the same dark blue eyes as his own...**_

**Who... are you all...?** _**He asked, unable to look away from the blue eyes that matched his perfectly. He was about to ask once more when a flash of sunlight caught him in the eyes, making the world around him fade into a white blur as he reached out toward the boy who had his eyes, and looked so familiar.**_

* * *

**So... first story in quite awhile. Hope I haven't gotten too rusty at this, and hopefully anyone that happens across this finds it to be interesting enough to want more. But if you do want more, you're just going to have to wait until I've finished the next chapter. Also, random disclaimer time, I do not own any Kingdom Hearts or Disney elements that may be used within this story. All of this is a fan created work and I do not claim ownership over anything but the OCs that have been in the story thus far (pay attention to that because I'm not saying it after this chapter). And with that, well... I've got nothing left to say, so have a nice day... or night, whichever's good.**

_**-Zander**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_- **Keyblades, Heartless, and A Whole Lot of Strangeness...**

Az felt his senses slowly return to him. They brought with them the realization that he was wrapped in heat and there was an ache in his chest that he couldn't explain. He tried to force his eyes open, to wake himself up, but he just felt so tired that nothing seemed to respond at first. Then there was a slight twitch in his eyelids, followed by his fingers doing the same.

_Come on..._ He thought, focusing as much as his unsteady mind would allow. Progress was slow at first, but soon his body was listening to him through the haze enough for him to open his eyes. He was surrounded by darkness on all sides, his arms and legs trapped by something wrapped around them. His breathing began to quicken and panic set in, causing him to wiggle in his cocoon.

"Hey, it's okay." A unfamiliar but calming voice said. Az turned his head as much as he could, and even in the darkness he could still faintly see the light aqua coloured eyes staring into his and the pink of the person's long hair. Flashes of memory came to him, and he realized he was looking at the girl that had saved him in the alleyway.

"Mmm mm mmm?" He asked, trying to speak but finding that his lips and tongue were heavier than he remembered. What he had been trying to ask was 'who are you,' but it was so muffled he doubted she would understand.

"A friend." She whispered in reply, surprising him. He saw something out of the corner of his eye and looked down to see her pale, thin looking hand reaching for his face. His heartbeat started to speed up, not knowing what she could be doing, but when she simply slipped her fingers under something that was tucked underneath his chin he managed to relax. A swift tug by the girl released the heat that was smothering Az, and he took in deep breaths as cool air hit his sweaty bare chest.

"I've got some water, if you need it." The girl said, helping Az to sit up as he struggled to do so on his own. He nodded rapidly and she gave a small giggle, reaching over to her left and taking a glass from a barely visible nightstand. He reached up with shaking arms and took the glass as she offered it to him, bringing it to his lips and parting them as much as he could.

"Go slow." She warned. Az nodded and started to drink, letting the water sit in his mouth for a few seconds before swallowing it and taking another sip. He pulled the glass from his lips after draining most of his, opening his mouth wide and taking a deep breath.

"Thank you." He croaked out, voice sounding and feeling rough. She nodded and took the glass from him, setting it back on the nightstand. He rubbed his throat softly as she reached a little further and turned on a lamp, casting blue light across the room. Az's eyes widened as he recognized it, from the desk against the wall in front of him, to the bed's positioning in the back of the room, to the closet that was unorganized and mostly contained the same kind of clothes anyway.

"Why are we in my room?" Az asked, looking at the girl with wide eyes.

"I, uh... brought you home." The girl said, sounding a bit confused. "You were hurt and I thought it would be best if I did so." Az looked away, the events that had led to this coming back to him slower than control of his body had. But it still did, and his breath caught in his throat as the pieces came together. The man in the alley, her saving him, the shadows chasing them, getting cornered... and the shadow spike that had been stabbed into his chest when he tried to save her.

"But... but I..." He tried to say, putting a hand to his chest. There was no sign of any wounds, not even a little mark or scratch.

"You _were_ hurt. It's been healed now." She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But I should be _dead_! I took... whatever that was through my chest... I shouldn't have survived something like that!" Az said, denial making him panic.

"As I said, it's been healed. You're perfectly fine." The girl said, her casual tone making him panic even more.

"What does that even mean?!" He asked. "'Been healed?' That doesn't make any sense!"

"You healed yourself when you awakened. You stayed in your sleep for a long time, but I knew you would wake up soon because you started moving. " She replied. Az just stared at her, mind going in about a thousand directions at once before one thing popped into his head that rose above the others.

"How long have I been asleep?" He asked, looking at her in the eyes.

"I think it's been about a week now... yeah, definitely a week today." She replied. Az just stared back in disbelief. He had been asleep for an entire week. He supposed maybe he had just dreamed up-

He felt something click at that moment, and more memories came back... although he knew it was what he had been dreaming about. The platforms, the giant shadow monster, and that strange key shaped sword...

"Who are you, exactly?" Az asked, wanting answers to questions that were beginning to burn inside of him.

"I'm Inara Mirai." She replied, not giving any more than that.

"Okay... Inara. What happened that night? When all... _that_ happened." He said, trying to get a grip on things.

"You were being held in an alley by that creepy guy." Inara said, looking up as she appeared to think about it more. "I knocked him out and we talked for a few seconds... then those Heartless started chasing up and we ended up getting cornered by one of those big dark wall things. You saved me and I used my power to draw out your inner light, then once you fought off the Heartless I brought you back here."

"Uh... what?" Az said, confusion plastered all over his face. Inara looked back at him, equally confused, until she looked up again.

"Oh, that's right. You're still really new to all of this. I never really remember that." She said, making Az feel even more lost.

"Okay, okay... just... explain all of this. From the beginning, if you would." He said, trying to make sure he would get all the details. Inara kept looking up for a few more moments before looking at him and clearing her throat.

"Well... those shadow things are called 'Heartless.' They're the darkness within a heart given form and life. They only live to steal more and more hearts from people, and get stronger when they do. They go after people with really strong light inside of them, like you." She explained, her tone sounding much more professional. "There are lots of ways to deal with a Heartless, but the best and most effective is with a weapon called a 'Keyblade.' One that you've already used."

"Key... blade?" Az asked, kind of understanding the first part but not even coming anywhere close on the second.

"Mhmm. A Keyblade. They're special weapons of light that only those chosen can use. And, like the name says, it can open almost any kind of lock." She said, looking up again.

"Okay... so a Keyblade is a weapon used to slay Heartless, which are the darkness in a person's heart brought to life. But, isn't the heart an organ? Why would it have darkness in it?" Az said, frowning.

"No, not that heart silly." Inara said, giving a small giggle. "I mean it more like... I guess some people would think of it as a person's 'spirit.' That heart is what makes you, you. It's connected to your personality, your memories, your feelings, your... well, everything really. Without it you're kind of just... not you anymore."

"I guess... that makes sense." Az replied, still not fully believing it. But it was hard to deny that when he was thinking there was this kind of warmth in his chest that made him question if she wasn't just crazy. He took a few moments to get his thoughts in order, and knew that the first thing he needed to do was clean himself up. He had probably been sweating non-stop and he felt a bit unclean as he moved around.

"I'm gonna... get myself cleaned." He said, throwing his legs over the side of the bed and letting his feet rest against the somewhat plush carpet. It was kind of relieving to him to feel something besides the heat that had returned despite the cold of the room.

"Here, let me help. You're probably not going to stand up on your own." Inara said, moving to do just that. As she came closer he saw a kind of seriousness in her eyes that didn't feel... natural. Like it was just too much for one person to have. It made him want to shy away despite himself, but he held his ground and didn't flinch as she helped him stand and go out into the hallway.

It was mostly black, just like most other buildings inside and out, but there was some blues and silvers thrown in there just because Az had asked for them as a small child. He still liked the checker pattern he'd made on his bedroom door, as he had always fancied the design for some reason. His eyes flicked to his mother's door, which was off to the right of them. It was shut tight, which said that she was probably out at work despite Az being laid up in bed.

"How'd you get my mom to let you stay here?" Az asked, looking at Inara as she directed them toward the bathroom as if she knew exactly where she was going.

"I just told her what happened. Minus parts about Heartless and your Keyblade. She let me stay because I have nowhere else to go, and your guest bedroom is nicer than most of the places I've slept." She replied, opening the bathroom door for him.

"I'll be okay on my own." He said, not wanting her to actually go into the bathroom with him.

"O-okay." She said, letting out a breath. Az hadn't noticed it before but she had apparently been as embarrassed with that prospect as he was, despite her serious air. He nodded and she let him go, hovering close by just in case he really did need her help. It took all of his focus, or at least what he could muster up, to not wobble.

"Alright. There's a towel in there and I'll leave some clothes out for you." Inara said, turning and walking away. He waited until she was within his room again to show his weakness, putting his left hand against the door frame for support as he walked in. His legs weren't accustomed to walking quite as well as they used to be, and every step brought on a little exhaustion and a scream of pain from his muscles.

"I can sit in the shower... just move..." He growled through clenched teeth, reaching the shower and stripping and turning on the water before sitting there and letting it run over his body, allowing him the time, peace, and white noise to think clearly.

* * *

Inara pressed herself against the door to Az's room, feeling her face burn and her heart thud in her chest. She had felt flustered like this a few times before, but never quite like this. Being so close to him had brought back strange flashes of memories, as well as memories of when he had fought the Heartless to protect her. He had held her close to ensure that she wouldn't get hurt, and after he had bowed to her and called her a princess.

_Stop it!_ She thought, scolding herself internally as she felt her heart speed up even more. She never got like this, but of all the men she had ever come into contact with Az was the least... piggish. He had a silent grace about him that was hard to miss, and it almost felt alien to her in this dark world.

_It's just the light in his heart. Nothing else._ She told herself, nodding sharply as she set out to get him some clothes to wear.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay to go?" Az's mother, Ms. Fulbright, asked as he and Inara prepared to leave.

"Yeah, I'm fine mom. No need to worry." He replied, pulling on his checker patterned hoodie. It had been two days since Az had woken up, and he was feeling a lot better now that every movement didn't cause a screaming pain in resistance. Now he was determined to go to school and work so that he could have something to do during the day and keep some food on the table so that his mother wouldn't be so stressed about their money situation.

"I'll keep an eye on him. Ms. Fulbright." Inara said with a nod. Ms. Fulbright showed a considerable amount of relief at this, as Inara had been a source of comfort for her for the two days Az had been indisposed. They had actually hit it off quite well, and Inara had been welcomed into their home with open arms.

"Thank you, Inara. I'll see you when I get home, Az." Ms. Fulbright said, reaching over and giving him a small kiss on the forehead before walking out the door to go to her own job. He showed some considerable discomfort but didn't comment at all, instead just bending down to lace up his shoes.

"Your mom's taken care of everything for me to start school here." Inara said, as they had a previous conversation, albeit a brief one, on that subject the night before. "There shouldn't be any trouble from the staff there."

"That's good..." Az replied, only paying attention to half of what she was saying. His mind was more focused on what would happen when others saw her, a girl that looked completely alien to anything anyone was used to, with him, a pretty much average guy that almost everyone avoided and ignored.

"We're gonna be late if we don't hurry." Inara said, her tone having a slight difference that Az was learning to spot. It was a kind of switch from serious to a normal girl, and one that he found almost unnerving... but he still did his best to figure out when she was one or the other.

"Right." He replied, breaking his own rambling thoughts as he stood and took his bag from the floor. He swung it over one shoulder and opened his front door, letting Inara out first and then going himself so he could lock it.

As they started walking toward the bus stop, Az began to notice things in the shadows of some of the alleyways that made him queasy inside. A few glowing yellow eyes peered out at and followed the two as they walked, giving him a sense of dread in the pit of his churning stomach.

"You can see the Heartless, can't you?" Inara asked, her voice soft and tender rather than the business-like tone she had moments before they had left.

"So... those are... Heartless?" He asked, eyes going from alleyway to alleyway. Inara nodded, knowing how he felt.

"Yeah. They're not natural creatures, and you can't normally see them when they're hiding themselves. But since you're heart is fully connected to your light you can, just like me." She explained. "It's hard to ignore them, but just try to. They won't normally try to attack during the 'day' until provoked." Inara continued to walk along like nothing was wrong, but something was still bothering Az about their presence. He took a deep breath and tried to ignore them like Inara had said, and something up ahead caught his attention at just the right moment for that.

"Inara, just... let me do the talking." Az said, forcing his previous discomfort down his throat and into that same pit where his dread still was. Drake was standing there, eyes turned toward Az and Inara as they walked up. Az swore he saw a flash of gold in those dark eyes as the two got closer to Drake, but he couldn't really be sure about that since nothing seemed to have changed when they got closer.

"Fulbright." Drake said, acknowledging him.

"Drake." Az replied, looking at him with emotionless eyes.

"So, where've you been for the past week? I see you've got yourself a new little friend there... were you two having a little more fun that you should be?" Drake asked, smirking a tiny bit. Az knew what he was implying without even having to give it a second thought. Drake had seen something, heard something that made him think he and Inara were lovers.

"She's just someone that helped me out and my mom's letting her stay at my place. Nothing more." Az said in deadpan, not giving anything away. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the Heartless around them, still slinking around in the alleyways, were going nuts. The eyes were moving around like pinballs and he almost thought he saw the shadows themselves writhing around.

"Sure." Drake said mockingly, drawing Az's attention back to him. "Just try not to get all lovey-dovey, okay? Wouldn't want you to embarrass yourselves or anything like that." He laughed as he walked away, giving Az a bitter taste in the back of his throat.

"What was that about?" Inara asked him, whispering into his ear.

"Just some asshat that likes to get on my case." He replied with a hint of anger in his voice. "It's nothing really. Let's just go." He started walking again, going in the same direction that Drake had, and Inara followed. If he would have turned, he would have been able to see the worry on her face as she looked at his back.

* * *

Az groaned as he and Inara left school at the end of that day, feeling even more rundown than usual. Nothing had happened however, and he was thankful that he had escaped any kind of ridicule that day.

"That was really fun!" Inara said cheerfully, a bright smile on her face. Az felt like she was having a good time, as being around other girls had apparently released her feminine side and let her relax herself a lot more, or at least that's what Az had been thinking all day.

"I'm glad you're having fun with it." He replied, although he was surprised to find that he actually meant it rather than it just being a snippet of his usual sarcasm. Inara seemed to notice the sincerity in his voice as well, because her mood only got brighter as she kept talking. Az listened enough so that he could just understand what she was saying while thinking about things on his own.

All day he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched, and watched closely too. It had made him feel incredibly uncomfortable, and it had taken him a lot of concentration to not show it. He even thought that he had noticed a pair of greenish blue eyes at one point in the day, and that had made him sick to his stomach.

All of this discomfort was because he had a general dislike of being stared at, since he wasn't used to receiving attention on a large scale. He wasn't fearful of it, he just didn't like the thought of eyes-

"Az, we need to move, now." Inara said, suddenly a lot closer than she had been, as her hand was on his forearm and her breath tickled his ear slightly. He blinked, train of thought completely broken as he turned his head to look at her. He stopped halfway when he saw what she had apparently seen as well.

Heartless, a gigantic mass of them, all starting to pour from an alleyway and rise up and out of the ground from their pools of darkness. His mind got a semi-flashback from his dream of little creatures doing the same thing, and realized that they were in fact the same creatures.

_How could I have dreamed of Heartless when I didn't even know what they were before all this?_ He thought, eyes widening as Inara started to pull him into a run. This time he knew what she was going to do and started running with her, keeping pace this time despite not being used to it. His heart pounded hard in his chest, and his brain was trying to tell him ways to get away from the Heartless.

Inara suddenly pulled him into a left turn and they were almost instantly thrust out into a brighter, more open area than before. He recognized it as the small park square that had a small fountain in the middle of it. This area was usually more well lit than others, as people came here night and day since this was the epicenter of the markets whenever they happened.

"You have to use your Keyblade, Az." Inara said, stopping in front of the fountain.

"What?" He asked in reply, leaning onto the fountain a little as he tried to regain his breath.

"Use your Keyblade to fight them off!" Inara shouted, startling Az a little so that he was giving her his full attention.

"B-but I don't know _how_!" He replied after a moment, panic starting to set in. Inara placed her left hand over his, which calmed the turmoil inside of him a little.

"Just reach deep down inside and find your light. Call it to you... call to your Keyblade." She said, staring him in the eyes. Something deep within him reacted and Az, without thinking, reached for it blindly. He grasped it and felt warmth flood through him, power resonating deep within the warmth that had escalated to a burning in his chest.

_Kingdom Key..._ A voice in his head, soft and weak but still there, said. Light flashed in Az's hand, and as it cleared he saw the same key-shaped sword that he had wielded during his dream. A new confidence swept through him, as if the Keyblade was imbuing him with some kind of power.

Az turned, brandishing the blade with a determined look on his face as the Heartless came flooding from the alleyway, no longer deterred by the bright lights as they were before. He gritted his teeth and rushed at them as well, his blade swinging with just as much ease as the regular sword had in his dream. It felt like his body was moving all on its own, attacking with experience he didn't have to strike down Heartless after Heartless.

"They just... keep coming..." Az growled, slashing through another one as he was forced to take a step back. He switched to defense, just trying not to get pushed back any further so that he could keep Inara safe from the Heartless, but he was slowly being overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that if this kept up then he wouldn't last much longer.

A sudden flash of light made Az look away from the Heartless for a moment. protecting his eyes, and when he looked back a good portion of the were vanquished, making him blink.

"Keep on 'em!" A girl's voice said as a person that Az didn't recognize ran from another alleyway, slashing at the Heartless with a sword that looked like some kind of demonic wing. He watched her for a moment, silvery hair tied back in a ponytail and whipping about as she moved, grace in her every strike. She was thin, and her dark clothes made her bright greenish blue eyes stand out.

"Az!" Inara called out, breaking his trance. The silver haired girl ran up beside him and stopped, skidding a little bit as she held her blade to her side, but still ready to strike.

"Well then, Keyslinger? Let's go!" The girl said, beckoning him to take the offense with her. He took the handle of his Keyblade in both hands and nodded, feeling better now that he had some backup.

"Right." He said, and they both rushed forward. Their attacks almost came in a kind of unison. Az would slash low, the girl would stab high. Az would hold off an attack, the girl would lash out with her blade at the one threatening Az. They were in synch, and the Heartless, even with their primal minds, seemed to know they were outmatched. The remaining few slinked back into the alleyway which they had come from, even the yellow glow of their eyes disappearing.

"Glad... that's over..." Az said, panting as he put his hands on his knees and doubled over. The girl was panting too, sweat glistening on her forehead in the neon lights. She seemed a lot less serious and mostly filled with adrenaline, but also there was a slight sense of grace from her that Az couldn't seem to place.

"Yeah... that was a lot of 'em." The girl said, panting as well but smiling despite the graveness of the situation. "But we still managed to beat 'em." Az nodded, standing up straight as he caught his breath. He was about to introduce himself and Inara formally, but Inara had already walked over and grabbed his arm, pulling him back a little.

"Az, let's go." She whispered. He looked at her with confusion, tilting his head a little.

"Why? She helped us to get out of that alive." He replied.

"So, you're the one, huh? Worried cause I got this, right?" The girl said, holding up the sword she had used during the fight. Now that Az looked at it closely, he saw that it really was demonic looking. The blade itself did look like a demon's wing, the structure of the wing dark blue and what would've been the leathery membrane which allowed flight was a dark red. There was a bright blue eye with a slit pupil in the crossguard, and it had white plating near the base of the handle that seemed out of place.

"You use the darkness." Inara said, sounding uncomfortable.

"Yeah, so what? _I_ use the darkness. It doesn't use me." The girl replied, sounding a bit miffed. Inara eyed her with suspicion before Az intervened, not wanting this to turn into some kind of argument.

"I'm Az Fulbright. This is Inara Mirai. What's your name?" He said, trying to hurry with the subject change. Inara and the girl held each other's stares for a bit longer before the girl looked away and up at Az.

"I'm Du Skye." She said, holding out her hand. Az felt something in him snap and he just stood there for a moment before his ingrain politeness took over and he shook her hand.

He couldn't believe that this girl was related to his English teacher.

* * *

**Well, there we go. I got chapter two done before Sunday, which kind of makes me feel good about this project, and I hope anyone that's reading this is liking it so far. Also, sorry to anyone that read the first part before this update and saw that random run on with no clear change in the perspectives. That was my mistake, and it should be fixed by the time this goes up. And... well, that's all I've really got to say, so I hope everyone has a good day (hey I rhymed! *air fist pump*).**

_**-Zander**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three**_**- The Unseen Purpose...**

"I'm so sorry about any trouble Duana might've caused." Ms. Skye, or rather Celine as she reintroduced herself, said as she gave a small bow to Az and Inara. He was still stunned, not really taking in everything he had been told in the past ten minutes.

Du, otherwise known by her full name Duana, was Celine's younger sister that she had been homeschooling for a long time now. Du normally wasn't allowed out because of her strange appearance and darker powers that she had discovered a year ago, but she said that she had seen the Heartless acting strange as Az and Inara had passed by, deciding to give chase in case the worst were to happen.

Another twist was that apparently Inara had known Celine as well, and was going to meet with her the day that she was chased by the Heartless and ran into Az.

"I never imagined that one of my students would be the one that found Inara, let alone possess a Keyblade." Celine said as she calmed down and stopped apologizing.

"And I never thought my English teacher would know anything about any of this." Az said, frowning and shaking his head. Celine gave a small laugh to this, appearing not as weirded out by all of this as Az was.

"Well, I always thought you were different than everyone else." Celine said. "But I didn't think you would have the power to wield a Keyblade."

"What's so shocking about wielding a Keyblade?" Az asked, frowning.

"Only those that either the Keyblade chooses, or who is given a Keyblade by a true Keyblade Master can use one, Key-for-brains." Du said as if it were the most obvious fact ever. Az looked over to her, leaning forward as little as if in challenge. Du did the same, and the two locked into a staring contest that was more about will than actual staring.

"From what Inara said, and his recent absences, Az's only known about Keyblades for a few days. He wouldn't know any specifics, so it's not right to expect him to." Celine said, trying to push them away from an argument.

"Yeah, well, he should." Du said, pouting slightly. "I don't have a Keyblade and even I knew that much about 'em." Celine started to say something back, but Az put up a hand to stop her.

"Alright. If I should know all of this, then someone teach me already. I'm sick of being in the dark about these things." He said defiantly. Du's pout turned into a small smile, although only for a second as she took his arm.

"Alright then, come on." She said, pulling Az into the other room. His eyes widened a little as he saw what was waiting for him within. A large monitor nearly covered one wall, with a console coming from it near the center that had a keyboard and mouse, multiple USB ports, and what appeared to be disk trays. Du put herself in the rolling chair that was in about the middle of the room, pushing herself over to the console and placing her hands onto the keyboard.

"Get ready, cause you're about to get a nice crash course in everything." Du said, grinning a little as she flicked a small switch. The monitor turned on and she began to work, typing and moving the mouse rapidly. Files popped up on screen containing words that he recognized in their titles. 'Keyblade,' 'Heartless,' and 'Kingdom Hearts' were among the ones that immediately caught his eye.

She seemed to know what he wanted to learn about and clicked on 'Keyblade' first.

"A Keyblade is a weapon originally created to conquer the power of light. They were pivotal in the ancient catastrophe known as the _Keyblade War_." Az read, becoming suddenly enthralled due to curiosity and a strange sense of familiarity.

"During the _Keyblade War_, Keyblades were re-purposed by some to defend the light instead. These were the first _Guardians of Light_, and were opposite to the _Seekers of Darkness_, who were born as a result of the greed within their hearts for power." Az said, stopping as he felt the familiarity grow inside of him.

"The Guardians of Light and Seekers of Darkness were natural enemies, of course. They both fought in the Keyblade War, which was a war for the light within Kingdom Hearts eons ago." Inara said, walking further into the room. "It resulted in the world being covered in darkness and separated into smaller worlds that existed before darkness covered everything again."

"Yeah, she's right about that." Du said, closing the Keyblade file and moving down the list. She picked a file seemingly at random, which was labeled '4 Parts of a Person.' She didn't speak, letting Az know that he should read himself.

"There are four essential pieces that make a person just that. These are the soul, body, mind, and heart. The soul is the life energy. The body is the vessel. The mind is the holder of information and is closely related to the heart in some ways. And the heart is the guiding force behind a person, containing their emotions. will, and personality, as well as the light and darkness within all people." Az read. He looked down in thought, trying to sort it all out. Before he had thought that the whole 'heart' thing was nonsense, but after reading that it did make a lot of sense.

"That's actually a bit flawed." Du said, turning her chair around to look at Az, who looked up at her in response. "Not many people have real light inside of them anymore. It's just an imitation that the heart creates to make up the difference."

"How does a heart make imitation light? I mean, it sounds like the heart just... holds light or something like that. How could it make its own?" Az asked, confusion apparent in his voice.

"Light and darkness must exist in balance." Inara said, making Az turn his head to look at her. "If there is not one, then the other ceases to be as well. The heart creates an imitation of the light it remembers so the darkness can exist, therefore sustaining it." Az frowned a little, still not really understanding but deciding that it was better to just move along the conversation.

"Alright... well, let's get to the next thing, then." He said, looking back at the monitor and Du. She had already pulled up the next file, which was labeled 'Kingdom Hearts.' Az cleared his throat, preparing to read again.

"Kingdom Hearts is thought to be the source of all light. In ancient times it was the provider of the light and was protected by its counterpart, the... wait what?" He stopped reading as he came to a point where the file was cut off by a large text saying 'Data Corrupted.'

"Yeah, I thought you'd both like to see that." Du said, looking back at them. "Apparently someone didn't want anyone else to know what the counterpart of Kingdom Hearts was. But I gotta say, if whatever it was was supposed to protect Kingdom Hearts, it did a really bad job of it."

"What do you mean?" Az asked, not understanding.

"Du and I, after picking endlessly through those files, figured out a few things about the current state of the world." Celine said, having come into the room unnoticed by the other three. "The first is that the Keyblade War was repeated for some reason. The second is that, because of this, Kingdom Hearts reappeared and untied all the previously fragmented worlds. And lastly, that something happened to make Kingdom Hearts fall into the darkness, which made the worlds slowly start to be consumed once again."

"I think it's easier to just show 'em." Du said, going back to the keyboard. She closed the Kingdom Hearts file and made her way to one labeled 'Keyblade War.'

"The Keyblade War was an ancient catastrophe that was fought by the _Guardians of Light_ and _Seekers of Darkness_. This war was actually fought over..." Az stopped reading, as another data corrupted message blocked part of the file.

"Keep going then." Du said a bit impatiently.

"The war was brought to a close when the actions of the two groups caused the only real Kingdom Hearts to fall into the darkness, shattering the worlds and covering them in darkness. With time, the damage done was healed thanks to the light remaining within the hearts of children, who grew to become the new leaders of the worlds that were split apart and isolated from one another." He finished, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah... basically, it happened again. Only this time, there ain't no light inside of children to bail us out." Du said. "The only light we've got is the one inside of you"

"But... why do I have light inside of me? Real light, I mean." Az said, frowning. "I'm not anything special, just a regular guy trying to survive in this nightmare."

"Maybe that's what makes you special." Celine said, smiling a little. "Maybe because you seem so average, it's just hiding the fact that you have an extraordinary destiny." He looked back at her, frowning still. He couldn't really believe that he was supposed to be some kind of 'chosen one.' That didn't happen in real life, only in the stories that most everyone had forgotten. Everyone but him, it had seemed... at least before all of this.

"We need you, Az." Inara said. "If this world is to be saved, then Kingdom Hearts needs to be found and brought back from the darkness entrapping it. The only true light left rests inside of you, and it's that which enables you to find it, should you search hard enough."

"Look..." Az said after a moment of heavy silence. "I'm actually kind of glad that you all seem to think I'm someone special. But the fact is, I'm just not. Even if I can use a Keyblade, that doesn't change that I'm just someone ordinary and dull. I couldn't find Kingdom Hearts if I tried... really, I barely understand any of this as it is." Inara and Celine seemed to deflate a little at his words, while Du just looked angry.

"I'm sorry to let you all down, really I am. But... I've got to go. There are things that I need to do in my own life, one that makes sense to me." Az finished, turning and walking out of the room. He didn't look back, not wanting to see the look of hurt that had crossed Inara's face for the split second that he had seen her.

* * *

_That idiot!_ Du thought, running down the street after Az. She couldn't believe that he had walked out on them like that, not even willing to talk about it further. What had really set her off was the hurt in Inara's expression when Az had finally left. As much as she didn't care for Inara, she hated to see others in pain around her, and it made her angry that Az could live with it.

_When I get my hands on him..._ She thought, running with determination. Her footfalls were the only source of noise on the desolate street, as night was beginning to draw near. She didn't worry about that though, as she had the ability to defend herself if need be. What she was focused on was getting to Az before he got too far away and out of her grasp.

She rounded a corner and stopped dead in her tracks, seeing Az on the ground and surrounded by strange looking white creatures with a symbol on their heads that made her stomach sink.

* * *

Many thoughts had raced through Az's mind as he walked down that neon lit street, his head down and his hood up. He hadn't meant for it to go like that, but it was just all too unreal. He had seen the Heartless, had fought with the Keyblade... and had even felt the light within him, which was still a constant warmth inside of him even now.

But he couldn't think of himself like some kind of savior, no matter what they said. He was just some dull, ordinary person that faded into the background.

"Me? Saving the world? Get real." He said, laughing at himself a bit. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned a corner, closing his eyes for moment to try and clear his head. Tomorrow he would forget about this, tomorrow he-

"Are you so sure...?" A deep voice said, echoing out and breaking his train of thought. He looked up, eyes wide to where the burning inside of him said that the voice's owner would be. It was a man in a black coat, standing upon a rooftop looking down at Az. His face was hidden by shadow, but through it he could see the smallest glint of a dark golden colour...

"That power you hold inside of you... it is befitting of someone that it truly special. Truly important to the threads of fate." The man said, raising a hand and pointing at Az. "And you are not that person." A sudden flash of dull white made Az look behind him, his heart skipping a beat out of horror.

Standing there was some kind of misshapen humanoid, completely white with bluish lines running down its sides that pulsed with some kind of bluish white constantly. Its hands were clawed and the fingers bound with two black bands, although that didn't make them look any less sharp. But its head drew the most attention from Az, because of the way it was. The mouth looked like it was actually a zipper of some kind, and within looked like a metal ball with spiked teeth that he really didn't want to get close to.

The oddest thing about it though, and the thing that made the burning inside of him intensify, was the symbol on its head. It looked kind of like a gothic cross that was attached to an upside down heart, which was missing two pieces of it near the area where it was connected to the cross. The symbol, so familiar and so vile at the same time, made him back away slightly as fear crept up inside of him.

"You shall give me what I desire..." The man said, waving his hand. Az looked around in stunned silence as more of the creatures appeared, encircling him.

"S-screw you!" Az shouted, throwing his right arm out. The burning welled up inside of him and he felt it travel toward that same arm. He knew what was coming then, and readied himself as the Kingdom Key materialized into his grip, which was more steady than he felt inside right now.

"Radiate... and bring it to me..." The man said, snapping his fingers. The creatures, once docile, started to move. Their bodies worked strangely, swaying back and forth in a way that made Az sick as he tried to watch them. One lashed out in a kind of sideway manner that caught him off guard, and the best he could do was hit its arm with his Keyblade to move the strike away from anything vital. He still winced as the claws tore into his shoulder slightly, easily going through his clothing.

Az struck at one, but its strange movements seemed to defy his attack and he missed, receiving a slash to the back as punishment. He cried out in pain and stumbled a bit, but started to feel the fear diminish as pain made him focus. He felt the burning inside of him spread throughout his body and the wounds began to heal.

"Come on then." He said, taking his Keyblade in both hands. His eyes began to have a white glow around the irises and he made his move. The creatures, due to their strange movements, were hard to dodge and strike at, but Az was slowly getting the hang of it as time went on. Then something he didn't expect happened... he was struck from above.

"W-what?!" He shouted, seeing one of them walking upside down in midair. He spun and slashed in retaliation, destroying it in a cluster of sparkles that looked like viewing neon lights through water. He panted a little, worn out from having to hastily dodge and strike, and he slowly started to back away.

"No good..." He muttered, turning his head slightly to see there were more behind him. Az gritted his teeth and rushed forward, taking the offensive once more. He struck one down, but it seemed like for every hit he managed to get off he took two in return. His attacks became more sluggish as the fight went on, and he realized that these things were coming in an almost endless stream.

"D-damn..." He growled, taking an unsteady step back. He had never moved from the center of the street, despite his best efforts to get out. His vision blurred for a split second, and as it cleared he saw two coming at him. His reaction was slow, but he managed to swipe his Keyblade horizontally and catch them both in the head, which destroyed them.

Az felt his legs wobble, then give out as he fell face first to the ground. His grip never loosened on the Kingdom Key, however, as that was the final thing that he was clinging to so that he would have even a tiny amount of hope. His eyes started to close as he finally began to slip into the comfort of the blackness that was sleep...

"Az!" A voice, somewhat familiar and panicked at the same time, called to him. His hand gripping the handle of the Kingdom Key twitched slightly. He heard footsteps, and a plea for him to get up. The warmth... the light that was inside of him had retreated within his chest now, refusing to come out.

_Please... let me... get up... and keep fighting..._ He thought, sending a plea of his own to the light. He felt that light quiver, then a sudden burst of life that made everything just go white...

* * *

"Az!" Du screamed, eyes wide as she summoned her blade, Soul Eater, into her hand. Without hesitation she started running at the white creatures, determined to get to Az and help him. They turned on her, moving toward Du in their broken way. She didn't flinch, slashing at them and hitting her mark each time.

"Come on Az, get up!" She said, reaching him in the middle of the crowd of creatures. She knelt by his side, flipping him over so he wasn't lying on his stomach anymore. She felt her own stomach turn at the amount of damage he had taken from the creatures, and it caused her to grit her teeth in anger.

"A child of darkness..." A deep, ominous male voice said from somewhere above her. Du's head snapped up and she saw him from out of the black backdrop of the sky. He was an imposing figure from down where she and Az were, and a tiny bit of fear crept up her spine at the sight of him.

"You do not possess the key..." He said, pointing at Du. The creatures entire bodies shivered and Du's attention went from him to the them. There were many of them, and she didn't think she could take them all by herself, even with the few she had taken down earlier and the amount Az had vanquished as well.

That's when Az started to glow.

It was soft at first, but enough in the darkness for Du to notice. The creatures seemed to notice as well, and their shivering increased as the glow brightened. Az gave a small twitch. Then his entire body started to move, and his eyes opened halfway. He stabbed the tip of his Keyblade into the ground, which helped him stand with his lopsided movements.

"Go back... into the darkness..." He said, although his voice wasn't entirely his own. It sounded like another boy's voice was mixed in, and for some reason she got a small flash of a boy with dark blonde, spiky hair from somewhere deep in her subconscious that made her want to throw up. But she was too transfixed on what Az was doing to even think about trying to relieve the stress her stomach had been put under.

He raised his Keyblade into the air and an orb of light shone on the tip of it. It was far brighter than anything Du had ever seen before, and she had to shield her eyes slightly. He spun the Keyblade into a backhanded grip and took the handle in both hands, thrusting down and stabbing the ground. This caused the orb of light to shatter and chains made of a golden energy emerged from that same spot, chasing the white creatures down and obliterating them with a single touch.

"Child of light... are you awake yet...?" The man said, apparently putting up a barrier as the chains went for him as well. They bounced off, but Az drew his Keyblade from the ground and jumped impossibly high, making Du stare in wonder as he landed on the wall. Light glowed beneath his feet and he bounded off that wall and onto the one across the street, repeating the process until he was above the man. Az wasted no time, sending down chains of light at the man as Az dove, Keyblade prepared to stab right through his head.

"No... no, not yet..." The man's booming voice said as the chains and Az were stopped. The boy struggled for a moment before he was thrown off the side while still in midair.

"Az!" Du shouted, reaching out to catch him. He apparently didn't need the assistance though, as while still falling he glowed and spun around, landing with a short burst of light beneath him.

"You will awaken... and you will lead me to it... because you have no other choice." The man said, turning and walking away.

"Otherwise... I will cause suffering to the one you cared for most." His voice was still heard even as Du felt the man's overwhelming presence vanish. She looked to Az, who was still standing there and looking half asleep. The glow suddenly died and his eyes slid shut as his body dropped. Du reached over and caught him, finding that he was surprisingly light.

"Still holding onto that thing for dear life, huh...?" Du said, half grunting and half laughing. Az was still holding the Kingdom Key's handle, his knuckles white with the effort.

"Come on... let's get you back." She said, trying to carry him on her back despite his longer legs.

* * *

**_Light shined from somewhere off in the distance. He thought it might be the sun, but the colour was off... it was reddish and orange instead of yellowish white._**

**_"Hey-" Someone said, but their voice faded a bit into static. He looked over to his right, where the voice had come from, and saw a slightly older guy with spiky hair that was as red as the sunlight and pulled back. He had a smile on his face, and in his green eyes as well..._**

**_A shift, small but there. Darkness fading, the same reddish orange light shining somewhere. But this time he was standing, and someone was in front of him. A girl with hair that was black like his own, and eyes that were the same shade of blue as his. He wanted to speak, wanted to ask her who she was, but only one phrase came to mind as he stepped forward._**

**_"Who are you... again?" He said in a voice that was not his own..._**

* * *

Light hit Az's eyes as he came back into consciousness. His brain was fuzzy, and the world seemed too bright as he opened his eyes.

"You're awake." A voice said, vaguely recognized, said. A hand was on his chest, trying to gently push him back down on whatever he was lying on. He brushed it off and the fuzz started to clear, Ms. Skye... Celine, coming into view as his caretaker.

"What... happened...?" He asked, voice coming out hoarse as if to prove his throat was raw. He rubbed it a little and Celine reached over and handed him a glass. A flash of Inara's face, hurt clear in her expression, weighed his hand down for a moment before he took it, downing it all in one long sip.

"You were attacked when you were walking home. Du was going after you at the time, and you're lucky she caught up before anything bad happened." Celine explained. "You apparently entered some kind of trance and saved the both of you, but passed out after that."

"There was a man... in a black coat...?" Az asked, the memories starting to come back to him.

"Du said he left after you defeated those Nobodies that attacked you." Celine said, frowning. "But... he threatened something before he left. Du told me he said... 'I will cause suffering to the one you cared for most.'" Az snapped out of his stupor almost immediately.

"You... you don't think...?" He said, disbelief making him choke up.

"Du's already gone back to your house... no one was there, Az. I'm so sorry." She said, making his heart sink deep down into some unknown abyss inside of him.

* * *

**Anyone that's actually liking this, you are so lucky. I was going to end this off on a worse cliffhanger, but I figured that adding more to it would help drive the story along a bit faster and give the reader more content to enjoy, so there you are. But, I suppose that's really all I have to said, besides I hoped you enjoyed, and have a fantastic day.**

_**-Zander**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four**_**- ...But An Undeniable Reality**

_Nobodies. They are what is created when a person with a strong will loses their heart. Nobodies are made up of the body and soul of that person, and depending on the heart of the victim the Nobody can take forms ranging from monster-like to even a human-like form._

_They are more intelligent than their Heartless counterparts, able to think and plan. This makes them possibly even more dangerous than Heartless, especially when they are of the highest ranking of power a Nobody can achieve. _

Whirling darkness surrounded him. Flashes of pain and anger made him blind to anything around him that could have exposed light. And then, like a blade, a single voice cut through it to bring him back from the brink of falling forever...

"Az, wake up. You're going to be late if you sleep any longer." A familiar voice said to him, softly and slowly. His eyes half opened, and he shut them again as he groaned softly.

"Five minutes, mom." He muttered, rolling over. But he flinched a little as the words he had spoken ripped him into alertness, and the reality of it nearly breaking any will he had to turn and face the person he knew was standing there.

But he did it anyway, and found Celine Skye, his English teacher and now friend/ally, standing there with a smile on her face and a sadness in her eyes. He sat up, the light blanket falling away from his bare upper body as he placed his hands against the bed to prop himself up.

"Did you sleep okay?" She asked, breaking the silence that had fallen upon the two of them.

"Not any worse than lately, at least." He replied, throwing his legs over the side of the bed.

"That's good." She said, a little relief in her voice. Az looked over at her, giving her a more critical look than he had before.

She was pale skinned like everyone else he had ever seen. Her hair was a dark chestnut brown, her eyes were the same colour as her younger sister's but a bit softer in the way they looked at you, and she was a bit more mature looking than her sister as well, although her body retained the overall thinner frame. And she seemed to have a preference toward black dress shirts and blue jeans, as he couldn't really remember a time when he hadn't seen her in anything but that combination of clothes.

"Du's waiting for you, you know." Celine said, breaking the silence once more and making Az blink.

"Ah, yeah... tell her I'll be down after I shower." Az said, looking away slightly as he got up and walked past her, taking the clothes and towel that he had laid out for himself the night before. He was about three steps from the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked back at Celine, who was standing much closer than before.

"I know it's a bad time to bring it up... but it's your birthday in a few days, right?" She asked, sounding a little apprehensive. He looked at her for just a moment, completely dumbfounded by her question, but regained his wits after a moment.

"Yeah... in three days it'll be the twenty-fifth." Az said, finding it strange that she knew that.

"Thank you. I just wanted to make sure." She said, smiling a little and walking past him to go out of the room. He looked after her, still wondering why she would even remember when his birthday was.

_No real point in thinking about it too hard..._ He thought to himself, sighing a bit and walking out of the door that Celine had left open for him. He made sure to shut it behind him, and felt a tinge of sadness inside of him as he saw the unpainted walls of the hallway he was in, reminding him that this wasn't the house he had grown up in.

And as he walked down that hallway to the bathroom, his hands balled into fists that were squeezed so tightly his knuckles were bone white.

* * *

"That Keyslinger needs to get a move on." Du said, sighing a bit as she leaned back in her chair. "Otherwise I'm not gonna train 'em anymore."

"He's just taking a shower, Duana." Celine said, frowning a little at her sister. "You shouldn't push so hard."

"If I don't push 'em, no one's gonna." Du said, rolling her eyes a bit. "I'm not going to baby him just because he lost his mother. It's something we went through, and we came out alright. He will too."

"You must not understand his situation then." Inara said, her tone sharp. "Az is an only child, and his mother was his only family. He was alone besides her. Losing someone that has always been there as a positive force in your life is devastating."

"Yeah, I know that. But still... if he's serious about all this, he needs to let stuff like that go." Du said, sighing a little bit. "Otherwise that moron will end up losing himself." The other two went quiet when Du said this. Du herself sighed and got up from her chair, stretching a bit and turning her back on the other two.

"Tell the Keyslinger that I'll be in the usual spot." She said as she began walking, waving to the other two. She went through their small living room after exiting the kitchen and went into the back of the house, where a completely solid black door stood. Du knocked on it three times and there was a soft click, and it swung open inwards. She walked inside and let the door shut behind her, turning to watch it so that she would be facing Az when he arrived.

* * *

Az, showered and dressed in a pair of black shorts and a white tank top, walked up to the black door that Celine told him Du would be waiting for him behind. He knocked three times and there was a soft click, after which the door swung open inwards.

"Hey there, Keyslinger." Du said, cocky half smile on her face. Az sighed and walked into their training space, which he had actually been amazed by the first time around.

It was a place that couldn't really be explained, a small field that was lined with walls of greyish energy that rose into the sky, similar to the walls of darkness that rose up in the city. These walls didn't move, however, and so the space stayed the same each time.

"Let's just get started." He said, summoning the Kingdom Key into his right hand. It felt good in his grip, like something that had been missing before he had called it to him. He figured that this was because it had chosen him and was a part of him now, since it just disappeared into the light inside of him whenever not in use.

"Alright, don't get impatient." Du said, rolling her eyes as she did the same with her Soul Eater. "Today's gonna be magic, so follow along and try not to screw it up." She added, motioning for him to come over. He did and she made him stand a little behind her as she turned to face away from the door.

"Alright, so magic is pretty simple. You know that light you feel? Well, for me that's darkness, but same difference. The way you use magic is pretty much the same way you use your Keyblade. You take the power from that light and change it into something else. For example..." Du said, raising her left hand. There was a moment of dead silence as Du took in a breath, pulling back her arm a little.

"Fire!" She shouted, a ball of bluish flames forming in her hand as flicked her arm forwards like she was doing a palm strike. The fireball shot out and hit the wall of energy at the edge of the field, making little ripples in it.

"You think about what you want to change the power inside of you too, then release it once you feel like the magic is working." She finished, moving to the side a little to indicate he should try.

_Here goes nothing..._ He thought. Az reached deep down inside, trying to find that inner light that he knew was there now, as he had felt it more and more with the passing days. He felt a surge of power go through his body and to his left hand, which he pulled back and then flicked his arm forward as an orb of greyish light form in his hand. It did as the fireball had done and crashed into the energy wall, but as it did it burst into a small burst of light that almost seemed like small explosion.

"Not bad for your first time, Keyslinger." Du said, grinning a little. "That was the Ruin spell. There are higher forms of it, but just using a basic spell is good enough." Az looked down at his left hand, seeing the fading remnants of the light he had just used.

_I wonder... if that man has this kind of power too._ He thought, hand curling into a fist.

"Hey, Keyslinger!" Du said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. Az blinked a looked up, train of thought all but destroyed.

"Come on now, we've got a lot more to cover. Now that I know you default to Ruin, I'm gonna teach you other spells that might come in handy." She said, moving back in front of him so she could keep demonstrating.

* * *

The man in the black coat looked down at the dying world from atop the only skyscraper within it. The place where so many events were destined to take place, the place where memories collided with one another in an endless abyss.

"Master." Said a voice behind the man as he turned, already expecting the second one, also clad in a black coat, to appear once he felt the darkness stir.

"Everything is complete. All that's left is to lure the light to us." The second coat clad person said, looking up at the taller man. The first coat clad figure looked down, as if in thought, and then looked up again while he shook his head.

"The light would be insufficient." The first coat clad person said. "Without a tempered heart to guide it, it would simply lose itself in the darkness just like our prize."

"So... what do you suggest, Master?" The second one asked, sounding unsure. The first one turned and looked back out at the city, lifting his head to look at the blackened heavens above.

"Go and temper it." The first one said without looking back. "Temper the heart the guides the light. Clash with that Keyblade, and then leave him." The second one looked down, and if anyone could have seen past the veil of shadows around his face then they would have seen a small smile on the person's lips.

"As you wish, Master." The second one said, turning and walking off into a corridor of darkness.

_Keyblade of Light... make yourself ever more powerful, and lead the way to the final Heart..._ The first man thought, putting his hands behind his back as he looked down to continue watching the city.

* * *

" I appreciate the sentiment, but why're we doing this?" Az asked as he and Du walked down the street. The lack of people there wasn't really all that abnormal, as no one seemed to come out of their homes unless they needed to, so Az really wasn't worried about someone overhearing their conversation.

"I thought that, cause of all your hard work today, you deserved a treat, Keyslinger." Du replied, grinding Az's nerves slightly with her nickname for him. She hadn't failed to call him that or 'Key-for-brains' since he and Inara had moved in with Celine and Du. At first he hadn't really minded it, but now it was starting to irritate him.

"And what're you talking about when you say 'treat?'" He asked, looking over at her with no attempt to hide his annoyance. She seemed to revel in it however, and this only up Az's annoyance at her even more.

"Well, I know about something that a good amount of people don't. 'Least... they don't anymore." Du said, coming to a small little shop that was out in the middle of a circular plaza that had two openings on opposites sides, both with bars over the openings. She walked up to the opening closest to them with Az following, already getting a slightly sinking feeling from all this.

"Shopkeep! You here?!" Du called, pounding her fist on the counter. No one came to greet them, and so Az sighed as he realized that it was closed.

"Well, that's a waste-" Az started, but Du turned around so suddenly that it startled him a little.

"Summon your Keyblade, Az." She said, her voice becoming slightly whispery and rising a little higher with excitement.

"Why should-" He started again, only to be interrupted by her finger pressing against his lips.

"Just do it." She said, frowning a bit. Az's heartbeat started to drum slightly in his ears and he did as told, making his Keyblade pop into existence in his right hand.

"Good. Now, you see this lock right here?" She asked, pointing to it. Az nodded and she smiled, moving aside.

"Tap that with the tip of your Keyblade." She said, nudging him forward. A look of confusion crossed his face, and then he remembered the name of his weapon. A _Key_blade.

"So we're breaking in then?" He asked, turning to her with a frown on his face.

"Oh don't be such a goodie two shoes about it!" Du said, her voice still whispery. "Don't you wanna know what my 'treat' is?" That's when he realized that she had picked up on one of his key traits... his natural curiosity for things. He looked back at the lock, grip tightening on the handle of the Keyblade. After a long moment of dead silence he finally gave into his growing curiosity and reached out with the tip of the blade, tapping it to the lock.

"And we're in!" Du said as the lock popped open without any kind of resistance. She went over and hopped up onto the counter, then down into the shop itself. After a moment of rummaging around, there was the pop of an insulated door opening and then the whooshing sound of it closing again.

"Score!" She said, popping her head up with a grin on her face. Az could help but smile too. He knew what she had even before she held up the two wooden sticks with most of their length covered by a white wrapper.

"You didn't." He said, walking over to the counter as he let his Keyblade disappear.

"I did." She said, hopping back over the counter with four sticks in her hands. She handed two of them to Az, and watched as she shut the gate and relocked it.

"Now, follow me. I used Blizzard magic on these so they'll stay colder longer. That way we have the time to walk where we want." Du said, motioning for him to follow. He did, wondering where they were off to next.

"How'd you know where to get this stuff?" Az asked, marveling at what was in his hands. "I haven't been able to find any in ages!"

"Just gotta know right where to look. Not many shops carry them anymore cause there aren't as many kids around as there used to be. But that doesn't mean people our age can't enjoy it." She explained, looking over at him with a large grin. Az looked over at her too, grinning himself, and he blinked a bit as he saw her. Normally her silvery hair was back in a small ponytail, but she had let it loose today. It was actually kind of a strange sight, to see her grinning and giggling a little instead of her normal devil-may-care attitude.

He actually kind-

_Stop it!_ He thought, looking away after a slightly awkward amount of time. _She's just an ally, at best a friend._

"We're here." Du said, elbowing his arm and breaking his train of thought just like she had earlier that day. He looked around to see nothing but a metal stairway leading up, and he cast a questioning glance her way.

"I'm gonna teach you something else while we're at it." She said, transferring her wrapper covered sticks to her left hand. She crouched a little, and Az could almost feel the darkness coming from her as she jumped, then sprang up at least three storeys onto the metal stairs, then back flipped onto the the wall of the building behind her, then jumped up again and onto the very top of the metal stairs.

"It's called Attraction Flow!" She called down, waving a little. "Just fill your legs with your light and they'll guide you!"

"You've got to be kidding me..." Az said, looking up at the metal staircase. He almost wanted to cop out and just climb it, but he knew that would look weak in her eyes.

"Here goes nothing..." He muttered, doing as she had before. He let his light seep into his legs and suddenly he was in the air, feet already making contact with the railing that kept people from falling off of the staircase when climbing. He sprang back, body twirling a bit to make up for his larger size and his feet landed solidly on the wall that Du had also landed on, albeit he slid down just a tiny bit.

_What am I doing?!_ He thought, but really wanted to scream it out loud, as his legs jumped again and he realized that because of that little slide down the wall he wasn't going to exactly make it. From the look Az saw on her face as he flew through the air, Du realized it too and she moved forward to help him.

But once again it seemed like his light knew exactly what it was doing, as he reached out and grabbed the railing that Du had stopped in front of and used his long legs to hit the wall below the platform and push himself back, using that momentum to flip and land on the roof.

"Whoa!" He cried out, stumbling a bit and falling to one knee. He wasn't hurt at all, just a bit jarred from the sensation of jumping clear from one building to the next, even if it wasn't perfect.

"You alright?" Du asked, bending down a little as she looked at him critically.

"Y-yeah... that was just... new." Az said, shaking his head slightly and standing up. His body was a little shaky, but that was most likely from the adrenaline he felt coursing through him in response to almost falling to his death.

"Maybe some sitting and our treat'll help." Du said, laughing a little. Az followed as she led the way to a small bench, and Az wondered why there was a bench up here.

"I don't know why it's here, but hey it's convenient if you nearly died trying to get up here and want a nice place to sit." She said, making him look at her in surprise.

"I wondered why it was up here too, of course." Du said, giggling softly as she turned to face him. Again there was that slight speeding up of his heart as he saw her, hair messier than before because of all the jumping around. He wasn't really used to Du letting her hair down, giggling, and acting somewhat nice, so he just brushed it off as teenage hormones with a sigh under his breath.

"I guess..." He said, plopping down onto the bench with a with a much louder sigh this time. Du sat on the other side, holding up one of her sticks. It made Az remember that he was still gripping them for dear life, and had been the entire time. He released his death grip a little and took a stick, pulling off the wrapper with a practiced looking movement.

"You used to eat a lot of these, huh?" Du asked, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah. Everyday after my mom got home from work she would have one for me. She taught me how to open the wrapper without making any kind of mess too." He replied, looking at the stick of ice cream in his hands. Still the same greenish colour that he had always known, and as he took a small bite he found that it was the same flavour that he had loved since his first try.

"Sea Salt Ice Cream... never thought I'd get to have any again." He said, smiling as he took another bite. The two sat in silence for awhile, neither really knowing what to say. Eventually they both finished their first stick and moved onto the second, the heavy silence still persisting.

"Hey, listen..." Du said, finally breaking the silence between them. Az looked over, seeing that she had been thinking about something for the longest time now.

"Yeah...?" He replied, almost afraid of what she was going to say.

"Don't slack up on your training... and we can do this again sometime." She said, looking back out toward the city. Az looked at her for a moment, stunned, and then burst out laughing as he held his stomach.

"W-what's so funny?!" Du asked, looking back over at him with some outrage on her face. Az calmed down after a few more seconds, finally sighing and looking at her with a smile on his face.

"Knowing this is my reward, how could I slack now?" He asked, reaching over and giving her a playful punch to the arm. She rolled her eyes but did the same to him and the two laughed at each other a little.

"Aren't you two adorable?" Someone said behind them, making both of them jump in surprise. The voice was actually a little familiar to him, but the slight distortion in it made it hard for Az to tell just who it was. But as he looked back he saw the person that had been the object of his boiling fury for two weeks, his body reacted almost without him thinking about it.

"Az, no!" Du said, but Az was too enraged to listen to her. The stick of ice cream dropped from his hand and he ran forward, summoning his Kingdom Key with a cry of anger. He swung down at the man's head, but his slash was stopped as the man held up something that made Az's eyes go wide with shock.

"That's right... you're not the only one with a Keyblade!" The man said, a ball of bluish purple flames lighting in his left hand. He shoved his arm forward as if to palm strike Az and he braced himself for impact when he felt his feet leave the ground.

"Gravity!" Du shouted as Az turned to look at her. She had made several anti-gravity fields to stop him from getting hit by the man's magic attack.

"Pathetic." The man said, throwing his arm out to the side and breaking the field. Az managed to land on his feet, and he lowered himself slightly into a fighting stance. But his eyes were momentarily drawn to the unmistakable weapon in the man's right hand.

It was entirely black and white, with no real colours to be found in it. The guard was what looked to be black gears for the bottom of it, while the top was a thicker black, M-shaped material with a greyish eye in the center of it, which was at the top of a white handle. No keychain hung from it like Az's Kingdom Key, either.

The white blade was wrapped up in black chains, with the blade itself appearing to have another gear near the upper middle of it which led into a pentagon-like shape made of the same fully black metal as the upper guard.

The nastiest thing about the weapon, however, were the teeth of the blade. Large, slightly jagged, and sharp looking gears were pointing toward the ground, while a smaller and more orderly set were pointing upwards. In the center of the teeth was the same greyish eye that was in the guard, and it gave Az a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach just looking at it.

"Scared now that you see someone else holding a weapon that's just as fancy as yours is?" The man asked, pointing the blade at Az. He gritted his teeth together, rage beginning to overcome any kind of fear he might have.

"I... I'm going to..." Az said, trying to force out the words as he shook with the fury he had been holding inside for so long. "I'm gonna make you wish you were never born!" He charged again, his eyes starting to glow white as he shot a Ruin orb at the man. He retaliated with a purplish blue fireball, and the two collided with a small explosion.

Az leaped through the explosion and slashed, hitting the ground where the man used to be standing, looking up to see several fireballs coming at him. He saw a small shimmer of something in front of him and the fireballs exploded without harming him.

"I've got your back, Az!" Du shouted, running up behind him. He didn't really acknowledge her, just ran forward again with a rage filled shout and locked Keyblades with the man. Sparks flew from the contact between their blades, and Az could swear he could see the man smiling a little from beneath the veil of shadows covering his face.

"Die!" Az yelled, using all his strength to push the man back and stab at his chest. The tip of his Keyblade was caught by the gears in the teeth of the man's Keyblade as he blocked, putting Az off balance as he stumbled forward.

"Pathetic." The man said, raising his Keyblade and swinging down. Az prepared for the attack to hit, but heard a clashing of blades right behind him.

"Like hell I'd let you do that." Du said, her face set into an expression of determination as she held back the larger blade with her Soul Eater. Az took the opportunity to spin around and slash at the man with the teeth side of his Kingdom Key, but the man had jumped back a considerable distance from the two of them.

"Begone." He said, throwing out his left hand toward the two of them. Large spikes of ice shot from the ground, heading straight toward them.

"Fire!" Az said, blasting the ice spikes with as many fireballs as he could. Du had started to do the same, and soon a wall of flame blocked the spikes from reaching them. They didn't have a reprieve from assault, however, as the man's fire magic came at them from above.

"Reflect!" Du shouted, and the same shimmer that Az had noticed before came up around them, a shield that stopped the magic from hitting them. But it shattered as the man hit it with his Keyblade, following up seamlessly with an upward slash at Az. He moved to block it, but was too slow and only managed to stop a little of the incoming attack.

"Az!" He heard Du shout as he was thrown back. The Kingdom Key fell from his grasp and he landed on his back about a fourth of the way to the roof's edge, his Keyblade clattering to the ground somewhere to his left.

"You talk a big game, but you obviously can't deliver!" The man said, rushing forward and slashing at Az. He turned his head and waited to be hit, but once again heard the clashing of blades when he least expected it.

"Get up... Keyslinger..." Du said, her voice a soft growl. "We've gotta... beat 'em..." Az panted slightly and reached out instinctively for his Keyblade, feeling the handle in his right hand as he pushed himself up off the ground. The man tried to move away from Az's attack, but Du casted a sudden Gravity spell and jumped away from him so that she wouldn't be hit.

"So... that's how it is?" The man asked, his head tilting down a little. Az swung, all his fury contained into one final slash, and he made contact with the man for the first time. He grunted as the Keyblade cut through him, throwing him from the anti-gravity field and across the roof. He broke apart into the darkness as he hit the ground, disappearing entirely.

"We did it..." Du said, panting softly as her Soul Eater disappeared back into the darkness.

"I think so..." Az said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand as sweat dripped from his forehead. His Keyblade began to slip from his grip and it disappeared as well before it could hit the ground.

"Well, at least... your training... paid off..." Du said, laughing a little despite herself. Az laughed a bit too, nodding slightly.

"Let's... go home..." He said, motioning toward the metal staircase. Du nodded in response and the two began walking, both dreading the walk after an exhausting battle.

* * *

"I see that two of them overwhelmed you." The man in the black coat said as a boy in the same coat, but with his hood down, staggered into the room.

"Just let my guard down... is all." The boy said, sitting down in a chair as he clutched at his chest.

"Did you see him?" The man asked, head moving to look in the boy's direction.

"I saw... a blonde with spiky hair... wearing a coat like ours." The boy said, panting softly. "And a girl with the same hair as him... also wearing our coat." The man laughed, a deep rumbling kind of laugh that actually sent chills down the boy's spine.

"I see... so it is just as I expected then." The man said, turning away from the boy. "That is all I wished to know." There was a moment of silence before the boy turned to the man, anger in his mismatched eyes.

"Master... did you know that would happen?" He asked, clutching at his chest a little tighter.

"Perhaps." The man said, sounding amused. "But still... it does not matter. You have furthered our goal today by helping to temper his heart for the coming storm. The Keyblade, and his connections, will grow stronger as he unlocks more and more of his power. For now... we can only guide the Keyblade wielder down the proper pathway so that he will beget the prize we seek."

"Kingdom Hearts... right?" The boy asked, sweeping his hair, which was a slight grey colour, back a little.

"Yes... Kingdom Hearts. It shall be that day, when the two halves unite, that it shall come. But first, we must ready the Keyblade wielder to become the beacon." The man replied, holding his left hand up. He curled his fingers into a tight fist, and a purplish glow that shined out from beneath his glove showed him the number XIII in his skin, exactly where it had been for the past seventeen years.

* * *

**Alright, anyone who was waiting for this (I doubt anyone was really waiting) I've given you something decently good... in my opinion... (don't you judge me! *sobs*). Seriously though, writing this is a lot of fun and I hope that anyone reading this does enjoy. I promise more to come, and hopefully you don't go nuts trying to figure out what the ending of this chapter means... but, hey, it's your choice to wonder, right? But, that's really all I've got, so I bid you all farewell... until next time, that is.**

**_-Zander_**


End file.
